Conventionally, there is an ink-jet system image recording apparatus, which ejects ink drops from an ink jet recording head so as to be applied on a recording sheet thereby recording an image on the recording sheet. In such an ink jet recording apparatus, ink is supplied from an ink chamber for storing ink to an ink jet recording head via a predetermined ink path and the ink is ejected at a prescribed timing from nozzles of the ink jet recording head.
In the image recording apparatus having such an ink jet recording head, in order to remove air bubbles or an alien substance mixed in the ink, cleaning called purging is carried out. The purging refers to sucking the air bubbles or alien substance from the nozzles with the nozzle plane of the ink jet recording head being sealed with a cap and the pressure within the cap being made negative by e.g. a compressing pump.
After purging, ink dispersed within the cap has been deposited on the nozzle plane. Therefore, in order to eject the ink exactly from the nozzles of the ink jet recording head, it is necessary to remove the ink from the nozzle plane. For the purpose of this ink removal, conventionally, a rubber blade called “wiper” has been employed. Specifically, after the ink has been sucked from the ink jet recording head, the cap is taken off. By moving the ink jet recording head with the nozzle plane being in contact with the rubber blade, the rubber blade wipes out the ink deposited on the nozzle plane. The ink removal by such a rubber blade causes the rubber blade to repeatedly slide on the nozzle plane. Thus, a water-repellent layer formed on the nozzle plate may be worn down.
On the other hand, a cleaning mechanism has been proposed in which a sucking tool being not in contact with the nozzle plane of the ink jet recording head is moved to the position having no nozzle while sucking the ink (see JP-A-2003-39710). By this cleaning mechanism, the ink is moved from the vicinity of the nozzles on the nozzle plane so that in the subsequent ink ejection from the nozzles, occurrence of inferior ejection caused by the ink deposited on the nozzle plane is avoided.
Further, as a maintenance device capable of making the ink removal more surely than the rubber blade, a cleaning roller impregnated with a cleaning water has been proposed (see JP-A-2004-106280). The cleaning roller is made of a porous material such as felt and is kept in pressure-contact with the nozzle plane of the ink jet recording head in a state impregnated with a cleaning solution. By moving the ink jet recording head in this state, the cleaning roller can remove the ink deposited on the nozzle plane.